Education Forum response to the the National Curriculum Review

The attached pamphlet, ‘Towards a subject-based curriculum’, is a response to the interim report of the expert panel established by the Government to support the review of the National Curriculum. The Academy of Ideas’ Education Forum members welcomed aspects of the report. However, they felt that the aim of providing the basis for a subject-based curriculum for all children was lost in a report that tries to be ‘all things to all people’.

IoI Education Forum response to National Curriculum review

The Education Forum members asked themselves a simple question: “What needed to be said to give the review the potential of forming the foundation of a subject-based curriculum?” In reply, twelve members of the Education Forum each set forward one key message for the review, the Department for Education and for teachers:

What we need 1: More confidence in teaching knowledge

What we need 2: A real vision for education

What we need 3: Less about aims

What we need 4: Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge

What we need 5: An irrelevant education

What we need 6: To understand the logic of subjects

What we need 7: A focus on debate

What we need 8: Teaching for learning

What we need 9: Teachers to be scholars

What we need 10: A proper primary education

What we need 11: A philosophical framework

What we need 12: An academic education for all

The pamphlet is introduced by the distinguished educational sociologist Professor Michael Young.